So here it is, with some useful comments from the facebook thread:
12 Weeks To Go
Marathon Training blog - thanks to Nicky and Jim Weatherburn I am able to do some training for my last 2 raced marathons this autumn, culminating in my 60th at 60 at Dublin. As this is the last time I will put my body through a marathon build up I thought it might be useful to share my training regime which may help other mid pack marathon runners. I hope to run about three and a half hours if I can avoid injury, but probably slower at Dingle in September due to the mountainous terrain.
So with about 12 weeks to go to Dingle last weeks training went like this:
10 miles at race pace (8 minute miling) 7.5 miles including 3.3 miles kenyan hills at 10 mile race effort (7.30 miling)
Gym session - upper body and core 18 miles in 2hrs 40mins
Gym session - upper body, legs and core
8 miles in 1hr 12 mins badly affected by asthma
5.3 miles at marathon race pace
I welcome any questions over the training I'm doing, which has been based on a winter of strength and conditioning work and a gradual build up to try to avoid injury.
Some thoughts on strength & conditioning:
As we get older muscle strength and lean muscle mass decrease quite alarmingly so weight training in the gym or other plyometric exercises help to maintain some of this strength. I have done a little research into this with a view to preventing breakdown through injury due to weakness in muscle and other connecting tissue -not scientific research, but the possible benefit of this type of training along with core training for the older athlete. to go through the detail of the s+c training would bore people to death, but can have a chat about it soon.
11 Weeks To Go
Introducing the second episode of the marathon training schedule, where daughter moving house meant less time for running.
Day1: Gym session - upper body, core and legs.
Day 2: 8 miles easy 67 mins
Day 3:Gym session - upper body and core, giving legs a rest due to league race next day.
Day 4: Harlow league race - ran within myself first half at around 7 minute miling, but when I wanted to speed up I was overwhelmed by the humidity and high pollen count like many on that evening, Disappointing 45 mins.
Day 5: Gym session - upper body, legs and core. Increase weights for legs in preparation for hill climbs at Dingle.
Day 6: 10.3 miles easy (pace that is - the run was tough - tired legs and unstable cartilage in both knees). Took glutamine supplement with lunch to promote muscle recovery.
Day 7: Yoga session followed by gym session - upper body and core, legs given rest for long run tomorrow.
Hopefully more running and less gym next week!
10 Weeks To Go
I would surely like to be training on the west coast of Ireland than here in this heat at the moment! Not too bad for most of last week, when my training week started with an easy 18 miler in 2.36. I need to move up to 20 miles on my long runs and slow things down a bit. If I'm aiming to run about 8 minute miling in the marathon, I should be running about 15 secs a mile slower. I am using Cytomax to hydrate as I run, it also contains amino acids to prevent too much muscle breakdown and hence aids recovery.
(There was also a nice cold chocolate shake at the end!)
Day 2 was in the gym working on upper body, legs and core.
Day 3- 7.4 miles including 3.4 miles Kenyan Hills in 24 minutes. Had to work hard to keep to average 7.30 pace after yesterdays gym session. Supplemented a glutamine (amino acid) tablet to aid recovery.
Day 4- 10.3 miles in 1.30. Cartilage in my left knee is unstable, so having to nurse this along a bit.
Day 5- in the gym - as day 2.
Day 6- increasingly humid. Left knee feeling quite unstable, so another 8 miles easy in 1.11.
Day 7 - Yoga session followed by upper body and core session in gym. No leg work today as stress from leg extensions may be aggravating the knee. I will cut back the long run next week to reduce impact on the knee in the hope that I can push on in training the following week.
9 Weeks To Go
An eventful week in the training program last week with an unstable cartilage in the left knee giving me considerable problems. Still trying to nurse it along.
Day 1; A damp and cool day, so out for an easy 12.3 in 1.45.
Day 2: 7 miles including 8x400m reps on grass which is kindest to knees. Times for reps from 1.34 to 1.28.
Day 3: Gym - upper body, core and legs, but drop off heavier weights from leg work so as not to put strain on knees.
Day 4: The HOT day. The only time I had run in higher temps was in Perth WA. I intended to run 10 miles, unfortunately in the middle of the day. By 4 miles I knew it was time to turn back. Just about managed 8 in just over 9 minute miling. Sadly my new tub of Cytomax hadn't arrived in time.
Day 5: Still hot but not like the previous day. 5.4 miles at marathon race pace on grass.
Day 6: Left knee felt OK yesterday, so back to the gym for weight session on upper body, core and legs with full weights restored to leg exercises.
Day 7: Very humid day. Legs felt heavy possibly due to yesterdays weight session. 12.3 miles 5 minutes slower than day 1. Supplemented glutamine as I obviously had not recovered sufficiently. Enjoyed my new Berry flavoured Cytomax though!
Next week I will try to progress the training a bit if the left knee remains OK.
8 Weeks To Go
2 months to the Dingle Marathon now, so if the knees feel OK I will try to get some progression in the training.
Day 1 is Stort 10 day, so only time for a gym session, upper body core and legs introducing some additional reps. Got to be strong for those hills!
Day 2: 7.4 miles including 3.4 miles Kenyan Hills in 25 minutes. On target at around 10 mile race pace for session.
Day 3: Gym session. Dropped off on leg exercises today as 20 miler tomorrow.
Day 4: My first 20 miles since Dublin last year. I only intend to run 3 in the lead up to Dingle. I suspect my legs should know what 20 miles feels like by now, so the usual wisdom of 100 miles in 5 long runs leading into a marathon will be a little undercooked this time. This run was done largely on trails with gates, stiles etc. to ensure a leisurely pace. Run complete in 3 hrs 13 secs - 9 minute miling - mission accomplished. Looking good for 8 minute miling in the race presently if I can cope with the hills.
Day 5:Gym session. Upper body, core and legs.
Day 6: 8 miles @ marathon race pace. 1.03.56. Close enough.
Day 7: REST Day. Tour of Hertford's real ale taverns with Peter Allen, Graham Statter and others. A little walking involved and a lot of lifting pints, so some exercise was involved!
7 Weeks To Go
This weeks marathon training started with a recovery run, more from the previous days activities in Hertford than tough running!
Day 1: 8 miles 1hr 12 mins.
Day 2: Gym/ weights, upper body, core and legs.
Day 3: 7 miles including 8x400m reps. Pushed on a bit from the last interval session, times between 1.30 and 1.25. My CV system suggested I could go faster, but my knees and ankles didn't agree!
Day 4: Gym session - upper body, core and legs. My left knee is is hurting quite a lot now and I can't bend it properly without sharp pain, Could be a problem.
Day 5: A circumspect 12.3 miles. Luckily the pain and stiffness in my knee eased after a couple of miles so I was quite happy with 1.43, about 8.30 miling.
Day 6: Gym session - upper body and core. Left knee becoming more painful. That night I doubted I would be able to manage the planned long run the next day.
Day 7: 20 miles. Luckily the pain eased somewhat so I decided to attempt the long run assisted by ibuprofen orally and as a gel. Again, the knee eased after a couple of miles ans I jogged round in 3.02. Only 1 more 20 to go before Dingle now.
My continued thanks to Jim and Nicky Weatherburn continuing to keep me running towards (hopefully) my 59th and 60th (and last!!!) raced marathon.
6 Weeks To Go
A little late with the marathon training blog this week. I blame 5 days of Beer Festival! This week and the next will just be tickover weeks due to BS Beerfest and recovery therefrom!
Day 1: Rest Day - start as I mean to go on. Folk by the Oak Festival at Hatfield House starring the mighty Bellowhead.
Day 2: 8 miles including 4 miles Kenyan hills in 31.14 - a bit on the slow side.
Day 3: Gym - upper body, legs and core.
Day 4: 14.5 miles easy in 2.02. Wish it always felt this easy.
Day 5: Gym - upper body, legs and core plus interval session on rower.
Day 6: Squeezed in 4.4 miles around Beerfest.
Day 7: Another rest day at the Beerfest. You may have realised by now that this is not an ideal marathon training schedule!
5 Weeks To Go
At the time of writing it is a mere month to the Dingle Marathon. I can almost smell the Guinness and turf fires!
This weeks training was a recovery week from the 7th Bishops Stortford Beer Festival. After a heavy session at the festival the day before, day 1 of the weeks schedule started with some unusual training at the festival breakdown - dismantling what was left of 130 barrels of beer and cider and its racking. Also managed a slow 4 miler.
Day 2: 6 miles including 4x800m reps on lush grass after yesterdays rain. I eased through the first of these in 3.18 and settled on 3.12 for the rest. Knees OK, so will stick to 800s rather than 400s and use the short rowing intervals in the gym more regularly.
Day 3: Gym work - upper body, core and legs.
Day 4: 12.8 miles in 1.53. Still a little jaded after the festival. Still using Cytomax on longer runs.
Day 5: Gym - upper body, core and legs. Rowing intervals had been on the agenda too, but after pruning grapevines on steps all day, with all the twisting that entails, my back felt too sore.
Day 6: 8 miles in 65 mins. Easy paced but close to marathon race pace, so things looking up now. Hopefully I can get in 3 quality weeks work before tapering.
Day 7: Gym - upper body and core. No leg work as final 20 miler tomorrow. Weather looks good, so I'll stick to the country trails again. The last 2 light training weeks have been kind to my knees, which although sore seem more stable than before. Hopefully I have shaken off the dip in training induced by the festival!
Mike Grant Tim - I googled Cytomax, and it says that it is an elite product for elite athletes! So that means you. I have seen various recommendations for taking energy gels etc when training - some say not to take them in order to train your body to burn fat, others say to use them on some training runs to get your body used to absorbing them when running in order to avoid stomach trouble on race day. What are your thoughts?
Tim Kelly Hi Mike - An excellent question. For many years the perceived wisdom seemed to largely be exactly as you have found - not to use gels in training when training your body to fat burn except to try them out before a race. Last winter I spent a lot of time looking into nutrition for runners and body composition. I found that during training on long runs, as glycogen becomes very low, it is not only fat but muscle protein which is used as fuel. The fat is fine, but the breakdown of muscle protein as fuel reduces lean muscle mass and metabolic rate as a result. Cytomax is a product available for any athlete to use. As you probably found, it contains not only electrolytes, vitamins and some carbs to assist distance running, but also amino acids to either replace those used in muscle breakdown or take their place as fuel. Studies have shown that this can prevent 80% of potential muscle breakdown. This has obvious benefits as mentioned above and will assist in faster recovery.
Mike Grant Very interesting. I have used SIS gels and found them very useful. The breakdown of muscle protein is new to me though - will look into that before my next long distance event.
Tim Kelly Mike Grant - above continued - my opinion has now changed. I think that Cytomax and Accelerade are excellent products to use to support distance running. I have found that Cytomax can be purchased reasonably cheaply on the internet through a company called Dolphin Sports. If not using these products, I would personally advocate supplementing the amino acid glutamine to reduce the effect of muscle loss. However, the use of gels would certainly delay or prevent the breakdown of muscle protein. I suspect the effect on fat burning would not be huge as this remains a proportion of your energy source depending on running speed. I have tried to summarise as concisely as possible, but if you want to talk further around this I'll chat with you at the Club.
Tim Kelly Mike Grant - I too use SIS Go gels when I'm running a marathon. I think they are really good and wouldn't swap them on race day. At my next marathon I will use these gels after loading with SIS GO energy and will consider a glutamine supplement, although the latter is less important, because after the race I'll have 2 weeks off and there's no need to worry about recovery ( unless from the Guinness!)
Mike Grant Thanks Tim - will definitely talk further at the club. I must admit to breaking the rules and using gels on training runs for my recent marathon and Grizzles. The benefits in being able to complete longer runs more easily and to recover more quickly seemed to me to outweigh any theoretical reduction in fat adaptation - the increase in training volume was what counted overall, and the gels helped this.
4 Weeks to Go
Marathon training blog - need to step things up a bit over the next couple of weeks. Suffering from a bit of plantar fascitis under my left foot. Hoping to stop this getting any worse by icing and massaging using an old water bottle which has been kept in the freezer.
Day 1: 20 miles in warm and humid conditions. Felt harder than usual because of this, but my last 20 in the lead up to Dingle. Finished in 3.01 running over the trails around Much Hadham again.
Day 2: Gym - Upper body, core and legs.
Day 3: 8 miles including 4 miles Kenyan Hills completed in 24.48. Pleased with session as uphill headwind created a good degree of difficulty such as I might find on Ireland's Atlantic coast.
Day 4: Day out at the cricket in Colchester, so just managed 5.2 miles in 45 mins when I got back late that evening.
Day 5 : Gym - Upper body, legs, core and rowing intervals. These are really making my knees sore, so I will have to consider whether to persevere with them or introduce a few strides into longer easy runs.
Day 6: The race must be getting close now as the SIS Go Energy and gels have arrived from Wiggle. Ran 10.3 miles in 1.28.
Day 7: Pilates followed by gym session - upper body and core.
Happy with this week. My knees generally feel less sore and hopefully will stand another couple of weeks training a bit harder.
3 Weeks to Go
The physical training for the Dingle Marathon is now nearly over. Starting to think about my race strategy now. Although I ran it last year, the memory can play tricks, so I've been looking at the race profile. I know I'll still need plenty in my tank for the big hill at 21 miles! Surprisingly, I've enjoyed the training overall. Thanks to Jim and Nicky for their help, and holding back a bit in training when I got the warning signals, I am now in my last full week of training before tapering. Trouble is, once it's all over, I have to decide when to get back to training again for Dublin. If I can kick on a bit, it is realistic to aspire to sub 3.30 there and hopefully a top 10 age group finish - injuries, illness and quirks of fate allowing of course.
Any way, last weeks training went like this:
Day 1: 16 miles in 2.19. Didn't go out until late morning today as I was unaware it would be so warm. Glad of the Cytomax in my Camelbac today.
Day 2: Gym session - upper body, legs and core.
Day 3: 7 miles including 6x800m on grass. A good session today, splits 3.10, 3.06, 3.05, 3.05, 3.06 and 3.07. Consistent times, fading a bit at the end so I'd probably worked hard enough. As good as times I was doing over 3 years ago - and the knees are behaving!
Day 4: 12.3 miles in 1.42. Very enjoyable run around Green Tye and High Wych. Should be able to do 1.45 by half way in the race - but nearly all the big hills are in the second half.
Day 5: Gym session - Upper body, legs and core.
Day 6: 10.3 miles at marathon race pace in 1.21 around the Farnham hills.
Day 7: A splendid end to the week sampling fine English ales in Cambridge. There was quite a bit of walking involved - honest!
10 Days To Go
Into the tapering now for the Dingle marathon - just 10 days to go. The last week of training went like this:
Day 1: A little jaded after the previous days escapades in Cambridge, I managed 8 miles easy in 1.12.
Day 2: 18 miles easy in 2.38 - and it certainly felt a lot easier than the day before. Since my last 20 miler, I've been back on the roads for my longer runs renewing my acquaintance with much of rural East Herts and Uttlesford. It has brought back memories of 15 years ago when my training cohort used to be out here every weekend. We became so familiar with the hills, we gave them all names, such as the Upwick A******e,
Hazel End H****t, Farnham F****r and Birchanger B*****d - makes me smile as I go up these.
Day 3: Gym - upper body, legs and core.
Day 4: My ultimate Kenyan Hill session of this training period - 8 miles including 4.4 miles hills in 33.45. Hard work due to uphill headwind like the previous occasion. My left hamstring and achilles tendon knew I'd done this session, so that's as far as I push it.
Day 5: Gym - upper body, legs and core. Left knee hurting after yesterday, so no rowing intervals (hamstring and achilles recovered).
Day 6: 8 miles easy in 1.07. Tried a stride after 7 miles to replace yesterdays rowing intervals. My achilles did not appreciate that. After the marathon I will probably introduce some static cycle intervals as I can't row or do strides safely.
Day 7: Gym - upper body, core and legs.
Interesting times now. This is the first time for three and a half years I am preparing to race a marathon. In the interim the training has been so abysmal I haven't bothered apart from some pasta the night before the race. Now I'm down to 10st 7lb, my old racing weight and 5% body fat. I need to try to hold this while training less during tapering. I always used to find this the toughest bit, so I'll see how it goes. I will need to stay working in the gym, as age means I have to work harder to retain lean body mass. That should help maintain my metabolic rate sufficiently to prevent me carrying too much weight over the mountains of Kerry.
4 Days To GO
Dingle Marathon only 4 days away. I've managed to stabilise my weight, currently 10st 6lbs, so should be on the line at about 10st 10lbs or less after a few days carbo loading. The loading combines water with glycogen, so that is a double benefit in the race. The extra weight at the start should prevent me going off too fast. I have one gym session and one run to go, a visit to Nicky and Jim to make sure everything is working as well as it can be - then bring on the race!
As part of my carbo load regime I will be using SIS Go Energy and start loading tomorrow pm.
The penultimate weeks tapering went like this:
Day 1:15.4 miles in 2.11. Tried to keep speed in check by using heavy weights on my legs yesterday, drinking a few Guinness last night and running at the warmest time of day, so this was OK.
Day 2: Gym - upper body, core and legs.
Day 3: last interval session. 5 miles including 8x400m. My intention was to run these between 1.30 to 1.35, so not working at full throttle.Ran them all between 1.29 and 1.33, so happy with that.
Day 4: 8 miles easy in 1.09. It would have been easy apart from the torrential rain!
Day 5:Gym - upper body, core and legs.
Day 6: 6 miles at marathon pace - 48 mins.
Day 7: Pilates followed by gym session.
One part of marathon racing which is sometimes overlooked is race strategy. Every race is different, so I'll share a bit of my planning for this one.
Dingle is hilly. I am always very hyped up for a marathon and more so than for a few years with this one as I feel I can have a bit of a go. The adrenalin will be thumping through my body before and at the start and I will have to keep control over the initial stages to avoid crashing and burning on the hills.
The weather is set fair, about 13 to 16 degrees, but there is a stiff northerly breeze. Until mile 9 we will be in the lee of the wind, so I'll be saving energy for hills at 6 and 8 miles. Those at 10,12 and 14 will be more challenging running into the wind, thereafter the wind should be across the course.
In horse racing parlance, I hope to be running 'on the bridle' until mile 20. Then, with a bit of luck, the race will be on - up and down the big hill and back down to Dingle harbour for a well earned Guinness!
Paul Knight Great read Tim Kelly enjoyed it and be educated as well. Well done for spending your time on posting all the updates , here's a question for you know you said you do more s& conditioning work on this marathon but apart from that has anything else changed in your programme ie less rest days , mileage lower , not as much speed work and diet preparation ie more less protein or carbs as older now ? Thanks again Tim and good luck buddy " smash it " .
Tim Kelly You raise some interesting points Paul Knight. Arthritis and injury have forced me to reduce mileage, but to an extent I'd be doing that as an older runner anyway as it is less advantageous to run high mileage. I'm probably running about 40 mpw at the height of my training now, whereas in my forties I was running around 55. Then I ran more frequently. Now I run 4 days a week max, then in the gym for 2-3 sessions a week.
Speed work is much less because my body won't take it. But I try to make up for that with a lot of kenyan hills, tempo running and marathon race paced running. Good for marathon running, but I'm awfully slow over 10k now. My diet hasn't changed greatly. I still rely heavily on unrefined carbs as my main fuel. It is what the body wants when it feels it is running fast. I probably eat a little more quality protein now to help prevent muscle wastage and aid recovery. I also supplement with glutamine at times and used cytomax on long runs to assist this process. We are all different though Paul Knight, so things are worth trying for a while. If they don't work for you ditch them!
Paul Knight Thanks Tim as always very informative and help full a lot of useful information there , cheers , the problem with marathons compared to 10k you don't get a lot of chances of running to many in a year so easy to get it wrong we're you can do 10k races nearly ever week so any advice has been a great help , thank you Tim .
Race Day - Dingle Marathon 2015.
My 59th marathon, supposedly the 'warm up' for my 60th at Dublin, but the challenge of this race meant it had grown in significance for me. Training had gone well. Nutrition and race weight about right. Confident in my race strategy and excited for the day. One of the most important components of marathon running was with too, LUCK. No unmanaged injury or illness. Final preparation good with a meal from a tried and tested source. Good weather on race day, just a stiff northerly breeze which would be troublesome later in the race.
I lined up with the 1.45 half marathon group which would get me to half way as planned. Off we went, nice and easy, just under 8 minute miling. At the first real hill about 10k the pace of the group started to fall back. I had identified a potential V60 rival in Ken Carey and was tracking him, But mainly my thanks must go to Seamus Hourigan. We ran together for most of the first half, chatting and holding each other back if we started to quicken our stride. Seamus was running the half and the hills came and went in his company. He finished at Dunquin and had accompanied me to 1.43 at half way and I felt like I'd been sitting in my armchair.
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| Approaching the finish |
Not sure if I can get everything back together again for Dublin in 5 weeks, but whatever happens there I know I did the best I could at Dingle - and the Guinness and the craic were fantastic!
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| Certainly ready for some Guinness and the mighty Tintean! |
Marathon training after a bit of a rest after Dingle.
I would usually take a couple of weeks off after a marathon, but Dublin and my 60th marathon at 60 years old is just a few short weeks away, so I need to get back to training quickly. This shouldn't have too much of a detrimental effect in the long term, as I'll take 3 weeks off after Dublin, then winter will be mainly strength and conditioning in the gym with the odd run thrown in avoiding too much of a battle with the arthritic joints.
The first week back to training was just a nice and easy re-introduction.
Day 1: Yoga and gym session - upper body and core only.
Day 2: Rest
Day 3: Gym session - upper body, core and light session on legs.
Day 4: 4.5 miles in 38 mins. Still feeling the hills in the legs.
Day 5: Gym session - upper body, core and heavier session on legs.
Day 6: 8 miles in 69 mins. Much more comfortable now, should be ready for a good 3 weeks hard training.
Day 7: Rest - Rugby World Cup in Brighton. Didn't Japan do well!
OK, so now I'm hoping I can get body and soul together for a decent attempt at the classic distance in Dublin. As a V55 I got 7th in category before arthritis really set in, so I will train towards a top 10 finish as a V60. If I have a good day, I could make top 5, but I probably need to run 3.25 to do that - and I don't know how much the Wild Atlantic Way around Dingle will still be lingering. I need to think slower recovery with age, but I may be able to offset this by more frequent supplementation of glutamine when the training gets hard. No hill sessions from now on - I need to change myself from a Landrover into a Jaguar for this one, so I'll be trying to do a bit more speedwork.
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